


No strangers to love

by Veto_power_over_clocks



Category: Transformers: Cyberverse
Genre: At least one meme per chapter or you get your money back, M/M, Memes, spoilers for all of s3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23112514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veto_power_over_clocks/pseuds/Veto_power_over_clocks
Summary: Megatron builds a wall. Hot Rod has many reasons to be annoyed by this (the main one is Soundwave).
Relationships: Hot Rod/Soundwave
Comments: 65
Kudos: 248





	1. Never gonna give you up

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TrebleTwenty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrebleTwenty/gifts).



> Mars said "Soundwave is the only one that would bother keeping up with human memes" and that devolved into "Hot Rod using memes to woo Soundwave" and that became this.
> 
>  _Edit:_ Treble, I'm gifting this to you because your enthusiasm for the pairing and for what I shared is 80% of why this fic got anywhere beyond the first bit I wrote.

Thousands of posts, gallons upon gallons of fuel, and too many people wasting their time on guard duty; to name three of the many reasons why the fence is a bad idea. They were all presented and explained with graphics, but _of course_ Megatron doesn’t care about anything besides making half the planet undoubtedly his.

Hot Rod’s only comfort is that Optimus agrees with him on how nonsensical Megatron’s idea is, but that still leaves them with a fence dividing Cybertron and the tenuous peace they’d reached with the Decepticons rusting and crumbling down.

Thank you _so much_ , Megatron.

But, hey! At least Clobber had been happy to accept Hot Rod’s invitation to join the Autobots. Or, well, his invitation to stay on the Autobot side of the fence so she could keep hanging out with him.

He has no hopes of getting the same result with Soundwave, but it’s worth a shot, right?

“No,” Soundwave says not even a second after Hot Rod finishes the question, without sparing him a glance as he oversees the fence’s construction.

“Won’t you at least consider it?” Hot Rod asks, sounding lighthearted even though he’d very much like it if Soundwave spent more than half a second thinking about it.

“There’s nothing to consider,” Soundwave says, turning his head just enough for Hot Rod to believe he sees him at the edge of his visual field. “The invasion is over. I have no loyalty for the Autobots.”

Hot Rod would also like it if there was even a hint of emotion in those words.

He wants to ask, ‘What about loyalty for me?’

He says, “The war is over, Soundwave.”

“Is it?” Soundwave asks, finally turning towards Hot Rod and pointing at the Autobrand on his chest. “Then join the Decepticons.”

Okay, Hot Rod pretty much offered that one on a platter. He should have seen it coming.

“Almost all my friends are Autobots.” He gestures vaguely with a hand. “It’d be kinda lonely.”

Soundwave returns his attention to the construction. How rude would it be to stand directly in front of him?

“Clobber is joining the Autobots,” Soundwave says, detached and matter-of-factly. Is he bored with the conversation? Unimpressed with Hot Rod? Just as unwilling to give away any real emotions as Hot Rod is? “You have no friends left in our ranks.”

“Wow.” Hot Rod laughs. Yeah, he’d been right in having no real expectations for this conversation. It’s funny that he bothered trying. Very funny. Hilarious, actually. He could be doing something useful instead of wasting his time trying to get Soundwave to go with him. “Straight for the fuel lines, huh?”

There’s a slight tilt to Soundwave’s head that Hot Rod decides to interpret as questioning, or as encouragement for him to elaborate. Well, “encouragement”. Soundwave doesn’t do encouragement; he does brutal honesty, lying to tear you down, and musical… Musical… What had Soundwave called them? It was something related to sound equipment.

Falling speakers? No, not that. Amplifier tossing? That sounds more like it, but still no. Microphone drops? That! Yeah!

Soundwave does brutal honesty, lying to tear you down, and musical microphone drops.

Time for brutal honesty as well, then. If it doesn’t work, who cares? The fence will go up and Hot Rod will never see Soundwave again.

Ouch. That idea hurts.

“We led an underground resistance against alien invaders,” Hot Rod says. “Remember that? We made a pretty good team.” He grins and takes a step to the front, getting himself back into Soundwave’s visual field. “Even Starscream thought so! He punished us together and everything.”

“We were allies, Hot Rod.” Right. Decepticon hierarchy. After a certain rank, you aren’t friends with anybody. Clobber had told him so and he’d felt _awful_. He's taking her meteor surfing one of these days. She'll probably fall on her aft and he'll have to save her, but it'll be fun.

“Come on. Really? You played music for my speeches.” _And we also talked sometimes, and you showed me Earthen cat videos and told me that you wanted to get a cat next. And I told you about meteor surfing and I could tell that you were judging me_ really hard _for it, but then I told you about this concert I’d been to in Alos I-99 and it turns out you’d been there too and- And-_

Soundwave doesn’t need a face to look unimpressed. Amazing.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Hot Rod sighs. “You had to boost morale.”

This is the moment to leave. Hot Rod should transform and drive away. There’s nothing else to be said and Soundwave isn’t paying attention to him anymore. It had been nice when Soundwave paid attention to him, when he’d looked like he might be about to relax and had told Hot Rod unimportant things just because he could, when there had been no music coming from his speakers because all of his attention was turned towards their conversation.

“Ah, scrap,” Hot Rod mutters, hitting his forehead with the heel of his hand.

Once again, the head tilt. Huh. Maybe it _is_ an invitation for Hot Rod to elaborate.

“Like… a minute ago? I said ‘Straight for the fuel lines’, right?”

Soundwave looks at him. Hot Rod gestures for him to answer.

“Yes. You did,” Soundwave says. He sounds uncertain. Hot Rod is almost sure that he sounds uncertain.

“I should have said ‘Mmmm whatcha say’. It was a great moment for it!” Hot Rod smiles, proud of himself. Soundwave had taught him that ‘meem’ during a strategy meeting that had devolved into discussing Starscream’s many attempted betrayals.

Soundwave, however, doesn’t seem impressed, although that’s his default condition. You could probably find a picture of Soundwave in the dictionary right next to the word ‘unimpressed’. Or below it, depending on the layout.

“You’re not supposed to say it,” Soundwave finally says, his frame slightly less stiff than it had been a few moments ago. “You have to play the song.”

“I don’t have built in speakers, Soundwave,” Hot Rod says lightly, smiling at him.

“Hot Rod: inferior,” Soundwave says, but his voice holds none of the disdain it had back when he’d been trying to undermine Hot Rod’s authority.

Hot Rod laughs.

“You don’t mean that.” And he believes it. Call him a fool if you want to, but he believes it.

The song starts coming out of Soundwave’s speakers, and Hot Rod laughs harder.

“Okay. Whatever you say,” Hot Rod says, amused. “I’ll leave you, then.” He really doesn’t want to, but he doesn’t think there’s any chance of making Soundwave change his mind as long as dear old Megs is around to ruin things. “Contact me if you miss me.” He says it lightly enough for Soundwave to be able to dismiss it as a joke. He says it while looking at Soundwave intently, so he knows it isn’t.

He stands directly in front of Soundwave. The song stops and Soundwave stands defensively.

“For what it’s worth?” Hot Rod raises his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “I really liked fighting off an alien invasion with you.”

 _I also really liked spending time with you and I don’t know if I like you or if I_ like _like you and you have no idea how annoyed I am that this fence means I won't get a chance to find out._

Hot Rod takes a step back and transforms. Soundwave isn’t looking at him.

Fine. Enough is enough. Time to drive away, say goodbye to the ‘maybes’, look towards the future, maybe get a cat of his own, ask Arcee to look out for him when he gets drunk tonight–

“Optimus: inferior.” Soundwave cuts off his train of thought. He still isn’t looking at Hot Rod. “Hot Rod: superior.”

Hot Rod is not ruining this by talking. Soundwave will find him if he has anything else to say.

After all, he hadn’t played any music throughout the entirety of the conversation.


	2. Never gonna run around and desert you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone that read the previous chapter and super special extra thanks to the people that commented. Your enthusiasm made it very hard for me to stick to my self-imposed posting schedule and not post chapter 2 immediately!

It can't be a coincidence to find Soundwave at the same spot that Hot Rod picked to watch the fence go up. It'd be believable if they'd been in the city, but here? Miles from the nearest inhabited place, with nothing to keep them company but the desert and the still-inactive fence's posts? Unlikely.

"What a surprise to meet you here!" Hot Rod says it like it’s true, says it so innocently, that it’d fool anyone who didn't know the lengths he'd gone through to get these coordinates to Soundwave.

Or, well, the lengths Soundwave had gone through to get them.

Another thing that couldn't have been a coincidence? Hot Rod seeing Laserbeak flying around his place shortly after he'd asked Soundwave to leave the Decepticons. And, because it couldn't have been a coincidence and because Hot Rod learning caution means he also learned when to throw it to the wind, he'd told Laserbeak where he'd be the day they’d activate the fence.

Huh. Put like that, Soundwave hadn't really made much of an effort to get the coordinates.

"You summoned me," Soundwave says, still as a statue on his side of the planet, and with some tense music coming from his speakers.

"I didn't. I only told you where to find me." If Hot Rod’s smile is smug, he can't be blamed. This is a good thing. The best thing. It makes him want to jump and laugh; it makes him want to run to Soundwave, take his hands and spin around. He doesn’t think Soundwave would like that, though. It’s not his style.

Something occurs to him.

"No, wait. Let's redo that answer." He points at Soundwave. "Humor me for a second and say 'You summoned me' again. Try to keep the tone that makes it sound like this is one hundred percent my responsibility," he teases.

A pause. The suspenseful music coming from Soundwave’s speakers tells Hot Rod that he’s considering his request.

"You summoned me." The music turns dramatic, accusing.

Hot Rod grins and says, "Sure, Jan."

He could swear he hears Soundwave chuckle, but the sudden rise in the music’s volume drowns the sound.

"I didn't realize you were paying attention," Soundwave says. His tone is still horribly neutral, but still Hot Rod thinks he hears some… some… some softness, or warmth, or at least a not-cold-and-detached-and-disdainful _something_ in it. Or maybe he’s putting too much weight on the fact that Soundwave lets the music fade out, leaving only silence around them.

"To what? The memes?" His caution still hasn't returned from wherever it was that the wind dropped it. "I always listened to you.” His smile is wry as he adds, “Even when you were being a jerk that wanted me dead."

"I misjudged you." Soundwave lowers his head just enough for it to look like an apologetic gesture. That's _a lot_ , coming from him.

"Can't blame you." Hot Rod shrugs. "I wasn't giving off the most confident and trustworthy vibes."

"It was because you're an Autobot," Soundwave says flatly.

Hot Rod laughs.

"I know.” He also can't be blamed if his smile is fond. “I was trying to give you an out so you wouldn't have to admit you were a prejudiced jerk." He might _like_ like Soundwave and his caution is still lost somewhere in Cybertron. By the time it returns, the fence will be up and there'll be no consequences for this.

"Outs are for cowards." And there's the disdain, but this time directed at others, directed at who knows how many bots that aren't Hot Rod.

"They are, aren't they?" Hot Rod is still laughing, but Soundwave looks stiff. More than usual, now that there’s no music to reveal his thoughts.

Soundwave takes a step towards the still invisible line dividing Cybertron.

"We have one point five minutes until the fence goes up," Soundwave says, and takes another step towards the line.

"That's not much time," Hot Rod says softly, walking until he's standing right in front of Soundwave, close enough to touch him if he extended his hand.

He's so caught in thinking of reaching for Soundwave that he startles when he feels Soundwave's hand on his arm.

It's not a firm grip. It's not even a grip; Soundwave's fingers are simply laying on Hot Rod's arm without putting any weight on it, cold against his always too-warm frame. It’s the softest thing he has seen Soundwave do.

_Come on, Hot Rod. It wasn't a coincidence to meet him here._

"Outs are for cowards," Hot Rod says, nodding and moving _just_ a bit closer.

"They are." Soundwave also moves just _a bit_ closer.

Hot Rod resets his vocalizer. "To be clear, I like you." He tilts his head towards the hand Soundwave has on his arm. "And I want to know if this means you like me back."

"It does." Soundwave curls his fingers around Hot Rod's arm.

Hot Rod lets out a relieved laugh and grins, wide enough to make up for the grin Soundwave would never ever have on his face even if he had a mouth for it.

"How many seconds left?"

"Fifteen."

Hot Rod makes a face.

"We deserve more time."

Quickly, Hot Rod brings two fingers to his lips and kisses them. Then he presses those fingers to Soundwave's mouthplate.

"We can have a bit of romance," he whispers, conspiratorial and theatrical. "As a treat."

What Hot Rod hears is _definitely_ a chuckle.

It ends too soon. Energy hums around them and they have to jump away from each other to avoid being hit by the fence as it turns on.

"Ah, frag," Hot Rod mutters, approaching the fence again. "I should have kissed you instead of trying to be smooth."

"Maybe," Soundwave says, sounding anything but bothered. Huh. Is he secretly a sap, or was he really that happy to be wooed with 'meems'?

Tentatively, Hot Rod brings his hand to the fence. The energy crackles at his plating's proximity, tickling his fingertips. Would it be possible to punch down the fence?

The closer his fingers are to the fence, the closer the tickling gets to being painful. The energy might zap a few of his circuits if he gets closer, and neither Hot Rod's hand nor Soundwave would appreciate the attempt.

"We have to get rid of this," Hot Rod says, dropping his hand.

"Agreed."

Soundwave looks up and down the fence, studying it. Hot Rod smiles at his obvious disapproval of the division.

"What do you think of it?" Hot Rod asks casually.

"It's inefficient," Soundwave says.

"A real waste of resources, yeah." It's also very short, all things considered. He might be able to get Clobber to throw him over it if it becomes necessary. "What happens to us now?"

The head tilt. Yes, it clearly means he wants Hot Rod to elaborate further.

"I like you. You like me." He pauses in case Soundwave wants to contradict him. Soundwave remains silent. "The war is over, but Megatron didn't get the memo and you're still loyal to him." He sighs. "Isn't there a rule somewhere that you're not allowed to like me back?"

"The war is over, Hot Rod." Is that amusement? It sounds like amusement.

"Right." Hot Rod laughs. "This was less complicated when we had aliens trying to drain our sparks." He rubs the back of his head and starts pacing. "What is Megatron planning? What's the point of dividing the planet? Why couldn't he let us keep what we achieved during the invasion?"

"He doesn't want to lose to Optimus Prime," Soundwave says, with a tone that speaks of millions of years of exhaustion.

"Unbelievable." Hot Rod sighs, and returns to stand in front of Soundwave. "How does this conflict with your loyalties?"

The silence isn't comforting. Neither is the faint sound of static coming from Soundwave’s speakers.

“Don’t answer that,” Hot Rod says, raising a hand. The static grows louder.

“I wasn’t going to.” His tone is cold and Hot Rod hates it.

“I know that.” Soundwave only watches him. “It wasn’t a fair question.” Nothing changes. “I’m sorry.” The static stops.

“Apology accepted.” His tone isn’t cold anymore; it’s back to regular Soundwave levels of seriousness.

“Thanks.”

Should he say something else or go back to trying to untangle the mess Megatron has left them in?

“I’m sorry for asking Clobber to deactivate you and for trying to undermine your leadership,” Soundwave says, once again with his head slightly lowered. Just a bit. You might not notice if you aren’t familiar with how Soundwave holds himself.

Hot Rod stares.

“Huh,” he says, just to fill the silence. “I didn’t think you’d apologize for that,” he adds when Soundwave lifts his face to look directly at him.

“Really?”

“More like I didn’t really think about it at all?” Hot Rod purses his lips and makes a vague gesture with a hand. “You stopped trying to sabotage me, we became a team, and now you like me.” He raises a finger for each item. “It was pretty clear to me that you’d changed your mind about me.” Hot Rod drops his hand.

“That’s not the same as apologizing.” No music means it’s harder to know how Soundwave feels, but those words are still forceful enough for Hot Rod to know how important they are to him.

“Yes, I know that.” Hot Rod nods, looking intently at Soundwave so he understands that Hot Rod does, indeed, know it. “Thanks for apologizing.”

“Outs are for cowards,” Soundwave says again, proud and disdainful.

“And you are superior,” Hot Rod says fondly. “In case it wasn’t clear, Soundwave? You were forgiven ages ago.” He lets out a quick laugh. “Pretty much the moment I realized you were willing to work with me.”

For a moment, Soundwave only looks at him. Then he says, “Hot Rod: superior,” and Hot Rod beams. What can he say? He likes Soundwave and he just got the highest praise possible from him. Again.

It’d be nice if there wasn’t a fence between them. If things were easy.

Just like that, his smile drops.

“So… you’re a Decepticon, I’m an Autobot, and the war is supposed to be over but it also isn’t.” He sighs. “I’ll do my best so we don’t run into each other in the battlefield." He tries to sound reassuring even if he knows he has no chance of fooling Soundwave.

“Do that,” Soundwave says, nodding once. "This should end soon." If it was anybody else, Hot Rod would believe it's a sad attempt at comfort. Since this is _Soundwave_ , Hot Rod frowns, narrows his eyes, and gives him an inquisitive look.

“What does that mean?” He’s not giving Soundwave the chance to pretend he didn’t notice Hot Rod’s expression.

"Megatron is acting strangely," Soundwave says. "He talks to Astrotrain in private. He summoned the Insecticons for a private meeting. Shadow Striker came to me asking for information about Megatron’s plans and told me she’s suspicious of Dead End.” He pauses and looks towards where the city is. “If there is a plan, I don’t think it’s a long-term one.” 

“If there really _is_ a plan… we’d be better off putting an end to all of this before it's put in motion, don’t you think?” Hot Rod gestures around himself. “Bring down the fence. Live in peace. We’re all tired of fighting, especially now that we know we don’t _have_ to fight.”

Wrong thing to say, apparently; Soundwave takes a step back.

“I will find out what Megatron is planning and act accordingly,” he says.

“While that happens…” Hot Rod lets out a humorless laugh. “What, we make sure to stay alive and try to keep liking each other until we know whether or not that’s a good idea?”

“Yes.”

Hot Rod twists his mouth.

"That's a very ambiguous plan," he says, judging.

"...yes."

Not much to do about that.

Hot Rod rubs his optics with his thumb and index finger and ex-vents heavily.

“Fine. I can do that.”

"I know." And there it is again, that almost softness. “So can I.”

They stand there, looking at each other. Hot Rod doesn't want to leave yet, despite how every second around Soundwave makes things more complicated. He should have kissed him when he had the chance.

“How are you dealing with all of this?” Hot Rod asks, curious and concerned. “You like me. You’re loyal to Megatron and at the same time you want him to stop what he’s doing. You’ll have to follow him no matter what but you also want to jump that fence and hold my hand.”

“You’re assuming many things.” Hot Rod is going to bet on Soundwave sounding amused as he said those words.

“I’m not hearing you say I’m wrong.” Hot Rod crosses his arms and gives Soundwave a long concerned look. “I don’t want this thing,” he point at Soundwave and himself, “to be an additional problem for you.”

Soundwave once again comes closer. It could be threatening. Hot Rod doesn't feel threatened. “I could ask you the same thing." The maybe-amusement is gone; now there’s maybe-concern. "You're loyal to the Autobots."

"The Autobots want to rebuild Cybertron." He gives Soundwave a hard look and doesn't remind him that Megatron had tried to kill the planet. "There aren't any secret plans to maybe hurt you and the other Decepticons."

Soundwave stands as straight as he can and leans a fraction away from Hot Rod.

"The keyword is 'secret'." Unimpressed again. They'd been doing so well.

"Yes. And in case you don't remember, I'm considered a leader now." _You were there. You're part of the reason I got to where I'm now._

Soundwave deflates as much as he's willing to do so. Hot Rod is thankful for his silence; any reply would have been an invitation for Hot Rod to talk back, and all they'd have accomplished would have been to make each other miserable. Cross-faction almost-relationships are a pain.

Still, they only got so far by talking, and Hot Rod has a question.

"Are we breaking up before we even start?" Hot Rod wishes he didn't sound so resigned, but who can blame him? He'd been looking forwards to the whole 'secret relationship' thing.

More silence; not even the wind is blowing. Hot Rod's audials are free for him to be aware of the ticking and clicking of his internal mechanisms and the hum of his spark.

"That's not what I want," Soundwave finally says. "But a relationship is inadvisable under the current situation."

_You don't say?_

But he _did_ say it. He said far more than he might have under other circumstances, or if he'd been talking to anybody else. He said it, so Hot Rod owes it to him to put as much thought and effort into this thing between them as he'd put into trying to save Cybertron.

"Okay." Hot Rod runs a hand down his face. "Let's put ‘us’,” he gestures at Soundwave and himself, “on stand-by for now." He points at Soundwave, firm and somewhat accusing. "You and I are going to survive whatever it is that Megatron is planning, and after that you'll come get me and we'll go on a date. Agreed?"

Soundwave tilts his head to the side just a bit. This isn’t the ‘elaborate on your words’ tilt; that one also has a slight inclination to the front, like Soundwave’s trying to listen. This tilt doesn’t move Soundwave’s head either to the front or the back, giving Hot Rod the idea that Soundwave is simply studying him from a new angle. Measuring him up. Memorizing him.

“Agreed,” Soundwave says. His tone is neutral and Hot Rod wonders if he’s also thinking about the many things that might happen before they get a chance to go on said date.

“Cool.” Hot Rod takes a step back and looks towards where the city is. “They’ll probably start missing me soon.” He makes a face. “There’s a lot to rebuild.” Hot Rod won’t ask about the Decepticons’ city improvement plans; Clobber’s amazement at their work on their half of the planet had told him everything he needed to know.

“Understood.” Soundwave taps at his chest. “When it’s time, Laserbeak will find you.”

“See you soon, then.” That's a promise just as much as it's wishful thinking. "For the record?" He transforms and hesitates. “I’m not saying ‘Bye, Felicia’ because I could never ‘Bye, Felicia’ you.”

Hot Rod doesn’t stay to find out how that one landed. He does, however, keep his rearview mirror fixed on Soundwave as he drives away.

Soundwave turns to watch him leave, and by the time Hot Rod is unable to distinguish more than his silhouette, he still hadn’t turned away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to choochoom for giving me the "Bye Felicia" idea.


	3. Never gonna say goodbye

The thing that tells Hot Rod that the war is truly over is _Maccadam’s_.

He’d been there countless times before the war, learned every detail about its interior while holed up in it with the rest of the resistance, and relaxed there often when the rebuilding effort started, but this is the first night since things between Optimus and Megatron got tense ages ago that Hot Rod feels that the place is finally on its way to being itself again.

Dead End is sharing a table with him, taking a moment for a sip of engex before he continues talking, and when Hot Rod looks around he sees Arcee arm-wrestling Shadow Striker, Lockdown and Clobber chatting with Perceptor at the bar, and Sky-Byte gesticulating dramatically, unaware of Jetfire’s grimace.

When Hot Rod turns his attention back to Dead End, he becomes fully aware that his defense protocols are off, like he’s simply having a drink with a friend and catching up. That he’s catching up with a _Decepticon_ , on what had happened since said Decepticon left during the invasion, seems to only be a detail for his survival instincts.

To be fair to himself, it’s not like they’d seen each other and immediately agreed to go for a drink. In fact, the first thing Hot Rod had done after the mandatory questions about physical integrity was ask Dead End to explain _why_ he’d had to be such a- a- Well, it doesn’t matter what words he’d used. What matters is that Dead End wasn’t going to apologize for betraying them in the middle of the battle against the Quintessons and leaving the universe with Megatron, and that he thought Hot Rod shouldn’t complain about it, because that act of betrayal was what had led to saving said universe, despite the troubles that it had caused afterwards.

What also matters is that Hot Rod and Dead End have very different opinions on what happened, but that it’s already over and there’s no point in holding anything against anyone, especially when you're genuinely glad to see each other again. That was when they decided to go for a drink and catch up.

“Then Astrotrain grabbed that Megatron and left.” Dead End twists his mouth. “I almost pity him.”

"Wow," Hot Rod says, leaning back on his seat. Optimus's version of the events had been far less passionate and detailed.

"Yeah." Dead End rests his arms on the table and leans forward, his shoulders down and his glass empty.

Hot Rod's glass is half full. He takes another sip and reviews everything Dead End has told him.

"That was _a lot_ ," he says, impressed.

"We made it out somehow." Dead End shrugs. "How were things on this side?"

"Lots of surveillance and worrying about what could be going on at your side." After everything that had happened to Dead End, it feels odd to talk about his own role in the latest events. "Nothing interesting."

"At least one of us didn't have a bad time," Dead End mutters, and then gets up. "I'm getting some energon now. Do you want anything?"

Hot Rod raises his glass. "I'm good, thanks." 

He uses his moment alone to look around again.

"Who are you waiting for?" Dead End asks when he returns, his glass clinking against the table as he sets it down.

"Huh?"

"You were looking at the door like it disappointed you." Dead End doesn't sound like he actually cares for the answer. He isn’t even looking at Hot Rod as he asks, busy as he is sitting down.

"Ah. That." Hot Rod smiles, far too amused by the prospect of how much Dead End will dislike the answer. "I'm waiting for Soundwave."

Dead End raises an optical ridge and flatly says, "You have terrible taste."

Hot Rod laughs, finishes his drink, and refuses to give more details when Dead End asks.

"Fine. Have it your way." Dead End taps on his glass and downs a quarter of it. "I’m not mourning you if he deactivates you.”

“I guess that’s fair,” Hot Rod says, matter-of-factly. He looks around again. Arcee is arm-wrestling Grimlock now.

All around them, people are talking and having fun with no regard for the symbols they still wear.

The fence is gone. The war is over.

“What now?” Dead End asks. He’s not looking at Hot Rod, and when Hot Rod follows his line of sight he finds Jetfire trying to stop Sky-Byte from standing on a table.

Hot Rod frowns. “In what sense?”

“Do you have any plans for the future, in case Soundwave doesn’t deactivate you?”

“Hmmm…” Plans. It’s odd to have plans instead of strategies or tactics. It’s odd to think of a future that you’re almost assured you’ll get to see. “Not yet. We’ll finish rebuilding and then I’ll figure out what I’m doing.” There’s still a lot to be done, even after every city and town is finally standing again. There’s fuel distribution to consider, the recovery of their cultural heritage, reaching out to any Cybertronians that might have left before the war started, establishing friendly contact with nearby species… It’ll be a long time before Hot Rod has to worry about what to do with his life. “What about you?”

“I’ve had enough of everything. I’m thinking of going into bartending.” He tilts his head towards the bar. “I don’t know what Perceptor is doing here, because he wasn’t made for this.”

“Yeah, we have to send him back to the labs.”

Dead End nods.

The rest of the evening passes quickly. They chat amicably, tease each other mercilessly, and by the time they say goodbye, there's been no sign of Soundwave.

That's fine. It's not like they haven't seen each other and exchanged some polite words when thrown together by the last two days' circumstances. It's simply that Hot Rod wants that conversation he was promised and he's never liked waiting.

He waits, though. He waits because he knows Soundwave will reach out when it's the right time for it, so he settles down to recharge and then gets up the next morning to go about his day.

There are things to do, anyway. Things he forgets about when he sees Laserbeak waiting for him in front of his door that afternoon.

“Hey, buddy,” Hot Rod says, low and soft even though he knows Laserbeak won't be spooked if he approaches him normally. "How's Soundwave?"

Laserbeak tilts his head and skips the short distance to the street. Then he's taking off and Hot Rod is chasing him through the city, driving faster than it's allowed, engine covering his happy laughter as he pushes himself to go faster, a race against patience in which answers are the prize.

The finish line ends up being _Maccadam's_. Laserbeak flies in circles over the door and flies inside when Hot Rod catches up with him.

This is it.

Hot Rod can't go in fast enough.

Nobody looks at him when he walks in. People do, however, look towards the empty wall next to the jukebox, where Soundwave is standing, swaying with the music.

Soundwave's looking at Hot Rod.

The jukebox goes silent and Soundwave starts dancing to the song coming out of his own speakers.

Slowly, a smile forms on Hot Rod’s face.

_Dale a tu cuerpo alegría, Macarena._

Hot Rod bursts out laughing, amazed and pleased and absolutely charmed. Everyone turns to look at him, he's looking at Soundwave, and Soundwave isn't looking at anybody, busy as he is dancing.

Some old memories start rolling around Hot Rod’s brain module, demanding his attention; a bunch of moments from before the war, from the days in which they’d all hang out together at _Maccadam’s_. Back then, Soundwave had danced whenever he could. He’d danced in the bar, and he’d walked to the beat of the songs that played from his speakers, and he’d swayed in place whenever there was a melody in the background, no matter where they were or what they were doing. Music had been Soundwave’s life, once upon a time; a part of his personality that he’d held onto as best as he could during the war.

Hot Rod starts walking towards Soundwave.

During the invasion, Soundwave had held onto music as well, privately and quietly, sharing meme songs with Hot Rod while they refueled and drumming his fingers when Clobber started humming as she worked. 

"Giving your frame some happiness, Soundwave?" Hot Rod asks as he comes to stand in front of Soundwave, who doesn’t stop dancing to reply, “Yes.”

The war is over and Soundwave is free to embrace music again. The war is over and Soundwave is free to be himself again. It doesn’t take a genius to know what it means to have been invited to see this.

"Can I join you?" Hot Rod asks, hands extended towards Soundwave, palms up.

Soundwave takes his hands and pulls him towards himself, until Hot Rod’s forehead is almost touching his.

"Yes," Soundwave whispers, low enough that nobody else could have heard. He lets go of one of Hot Rod’s hands and takes a step back to make him spin in place.

Hot Rod tries not to laugh. He really, really tries not to laugh, but the quick movement makes him dizzy, the song amuses him, and Soundwave’s hand on his own makes his spark flare with excitement - it’s all too much for his poor frame, so he laughs and then makes Soundwave spin in place as well.

They let go of each other to dance to the song’s chorus, but at the first chance he gets Hot Rod is taking Soundwave’s hand again to get him close enough to dip him, just because he can. And because Soundwave is letting him. And because Soundwave wanted to dance with him to an annoying, repetitive song that nobody else in the room finds funny.

Hot Rod keeps his arms around Soundwave once he’s pulled him up. The song keeps playing, but they’re still, held in place by expectation and the knowledge that everyone is looking at them.

That thought makes Hot Rod let out an amused sound, half a snort and half a huff.

Soundwave does the head tilt.

“I was thinking that people are watching us, and that you probably don’t care about that,” Hot Rod explains, looking at Soundwave fondly, mildly curious about what the rest might think and only caring about what Soundwave wants.

“You’re right.” Soundwave turns his head just enough to make it clear that he’s giving everyone a dismissive look and then returns his attention to Hot Rod. “I don’t.”

“Because you’re superior?” Hot Rod's never going to stop with that joke.

“Because you’re the only motherfucker in this city that can handle me,” Soundwave replies without missing a beat.

“Yeah, I’m starting to think that’s true,” Hot Rod says, smiling so hard that his face hurts. “Come on.” He steps away from Soundwave, gesturing with his head towards the door. “Let’s get out of here.”

They walk to the exit side by side, not paying attention to the curious looks they're getting. Considering Dead End’s reaction the day before, Hot Rod suspects that nobody saw it coming. He might be far too amused by the confusion this might be causing, but well, what can he say? He doesn’t actually care. He’s just glad that things worked out for them.

The night air is cold, the stars are bright, and the two of them roam the city silently, content in each other's company.

Slowly, the giddiness from earlier subsides and Hot Rod starts thinking about what they're getting into.

"We're official now, right?" he asks, turning around to walk backwards, not wanting to miss any of Soundwave's reactions.

"We are,” Soundwave says, and reaches to push Hot Rod slightly to the side. When Hot Rod looks down, he sees a piece of debris that he could have tripped on. Soundwave keeps his hand on Hot Rod’s arm as they keep walking. “Nothing else should get in the way now.”

There’s no emotion in those words. There rarely is any emotion in Soundwave’s words, so that doesn’t mean anything.

“Is that about things I could trip on or about us?” Hot Rod narrows his eyes.

“Yes.”

“Thought so.” Hot Rod nods once and turns around, stretching his hand towards Soundwave, who accepts the offering and holds his hand.

They keep walking in silence.

“I’m sorry about Megatron,” Hot Rod says once they get to where the fence used to stand. The poles are still there.

It’s naïve to expect them to get rid of every sign of the fence immediately when there are more important things to take care of first, but having the poles there makes Hot Rod think the division could go up again at any second, as soon as some Decepticon (former Decepticon? Are factions real at this point?) gets annoyed and decides that sharing space isn’t for them.

“He will recover,” Soundwave says, letting go of Hot Rod and crossing over to the Decepticon side.

That’s what it is. The Decepticon side. It’s what it’ll be until someone from either half decides they like the other part of the planet better and moves to it.

Hot Rod crosses the line as well.

“I’m not talking about that Megatron,” Hot Rod says dismissively. “I’m talking about the other one. The one from the parallel universe.”

Was it the wrong thing to say? Soundwave turns away from Hot Rod and a slow song comes out of his speakers. If he felt confident enough to do so, Hot Rod would describe the melody as sad.

He does, however, feel brave enough to soldier on and say what he has to say.

“Dead End told me what he did. He told me that all of you pledged allegiance to him and that he dismissed you.” The song keeps playing. “I’m really sorry about that.”

“Are you?” Soundwave says, finally turning his head to look at Hot Rod directly. “I pledged my allegiance to Megatron. I was ready to follow him.”

There’s no need for him to explain what would have happened if that Megatron had accepted him and the others. Both Hot Rod and Soundwave know what that would have meant for the tentative, fragile thing that’s been developing between them.

“I know that too.” Hot Rod cringes and rubs the back of his neck. “We always knew that you were a Decepticon and that I was an Autobot and that we’d be better off if we never had to figure out if we cared more about our factions and ideals or about each other.” He gestures at Soundwave. “I’m not gonna lie and pretend I’m not hurt that you were ready to go on an Autobot hunting spree.”

Hot Rod waits a moment in case Soundwave wants to say anything. Soundwave lets the music fade out and does the head tilt.

“So…” Hot Rod sighs. “That happened. But you’re here now, and that means I’m something you want too. It means you want _us_ to happen. And…” He in-vents deeply. “This is us. Now. In the present.” He takes a step towards Soundwave, who turns fully towards him. “We’re trying to have something good and I really think we could get it if we try. But we have to try, and we can’t do that if we let every little thing about the past get in the way.”

Soundwave nods once and brings a hand to Hot Rod's face, his fingertips barely touching below Hot Rod's audial. It feels like Soundwave is studying him.

"We can have nice things," Soundwave says quietly, his fingers sliding down to Hot Rod's chin and staying there.

This would be a _very_ good moment for a kiss.

"You don't have a mouth underneath that, right?" Hot Rod asks. Just in case.

"No."

"I was making sure." He takes the hand Soundwave has on his face and brings it down so he can get closer to Soundwave. "Anything else you wanna say before I kiss you?"

Soundwave _hums_ , like he's thinking about his answer. Or maybe he wants Hot Rod to know that he is, in fact, thinking about his answer.

"You look better in red," Soundwave says, serious and certain.

It makes Hot Rod beam.

"Great, because I like it better."

Saying anything else would be stalling, so Hot Rod leans forward and presses his lips to Soundwave's mouthplate.

It's odd to kiss a flat, rigid surface, but he does his best.

He thinks he's doing a very good job at it, because Soundwave puts his arms around Hot Rod's waist and pulls him closer.

Hot Rod breaks the kiss and brings a hand up to brush the spot his lips had been on the previous moment.

"If you don't call me 'superior' after that, I'll be sad," Hot Rod jokes, his fingers resting over the lingering warmth of his own mouth on Soundwave’s mouthplate.

"Sad enough for me to play 'Despacito'?" Soundwave asks, his voice serious, like he's asking something that truly matters.

"Definitely," Hot Rod says, mock solemn.

"Tempting." Soundwave hums again and tilts his head slightly, as if studying Hot Rod.

Finally, instead of playing 'Despacito', he leans forward and nuzzles Hot Rod's cheek.

There's nothing left to do but laugh and kiss Soundwave again. And again. And again.

They finally have enough time, and Hot Rod won’t waste even a second of it.

The fact that Soundwave keeps his arms around him tells Hot Rod that they have similar plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Treble for suggesting the "You're the only motherfucker..." thing!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, and super extra special thanks to all the people that commented on the previous chapters.
> 
> Kudos cheer me up and comments make my day. If promos are your thing, you can [retweet](https://twitter.com/ceehagez/status/1238052042750472194) or [reblog](https://veto-power-over-fanworks.tumblr.com/post/612421987132915712/no-strangers-to-love-1) the link to this.
> 
> Have a nice day!


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